Through the cracks
by Anthropophagus Ryu
Summary: Vexen and Demyx are sent on a mission to Silent Hill under orders to retrieve an item for Marluxia, no pairings, rated for mild language.


Disclaimer:No ownership for me.

Notes:This stems from a rp not cracky enough for the crack rp board it was made on.  
Some of it is quite dodgy and doesn't flow too well, probably needs some serious fixing, but it started as a roleplay log, I was playing Vexen, Demyx is not my fault, but I'm unsure how to write him and will most likely do considerably worse. No real plans to finish it, but I'd like to. Maybe it'll help me learn how to write Demyx properly.

If anyone wants to suggest something please do, I'm quite open to critique including flames and sporks.

* * *

That snake Marluxia had some nerve. The bastard had taken to sending him on all sort of inane little quests that could just have easily been completed by a dusk.  
This time to add insult to injury he had sent him with a partner; if the man wasn't the superior's favourite he would have been frozen solid for even considering to ask such a thing of Vexen.

So now he was stuck trudging through a disgusting mess of a ghost town (aparently some sort of holiday/resort town called 'silent' something or other) with Demyx.

Vexy?" He held onto the 'y' like it was a rope. "Why are we here again? I don't like the smooshy ground, or the buildings, or anything!"

Vexen sighed, and tried to be patient "We, are here because the Superior's pet wants something, and because of that _we_, have to go get it"

But..." He pulled his face into a puppy-dog-eyes look "I don't want to..."

Vexen ignored Demyx's whine and looked at the map... Bloody useless thing it was, so many of the paths were blocked or ended in shear cliffs. "I believe we are here." The ragged apartment had been marked off on the map. Thankfully the front door; unlike every other damn door in this godforsaken town it wasn't locked or boarded up.  
The door creaked open revealing a somewhat run down lobby and a hunched over figure in the corner.

Demyx looked around the room. "Hmph. I hate it when they leave it dirty like this..." He glanced over Vexen's shoulder at the map, glancing at the figure in the corner. He whispered into Vexen's ear "Hey, who's that in the corner?"

Why the hell do you think I know?" Vexen growled under his breath.  
It was too dark to really see who or what it was exactly but there was something somewhat unsettling about it even to those with out a heart, particularly the way it was twitching. With a cautious approach it became apparent something was wrong, particularly the slurping noise.  
Vexen summoned his shield to provide a flash of light. The brief flash of light and snow flakes lit up the room for a few seconds...  
Those few seconds were enough to see.  
The walls were smeared with gore and some unidentifiable substance. The thing in the corner definitely wasn't human...  
The flash obviously initiated some kind of reaction because the thing jerked violently around, although too dark to see properly it's lack of human features was allot more apparent.  
Vexen jumped back in disgust.

GAH!" Demyx yelped at the... thing. "It's horrible! It's not a Nobody, that's for sure. Not a heartless I've ever seen..." He backed away further, making sure to still not touch the walls.

"That part was obvious." Vexen spoke flatly (not having a heart had advantages) and waved a hand to summon ice, but nothing happened. The ice didn't respond, multiple attempts became more frantic as the thing staggered closer. Vexen's intelligence was beginning to lose out to his memories of fear. Lacking access to his powers, all he had was his shield and the coward. Quick thinking made Vexen's choice.  
Vexen picked up Demyx and threw him at the monster.

"No, what are y-" Demyx squealed as he hit the monster, bowling it over and sending them both sprawling onto the floor. He picked himself up and glared at Vexen. "WHY, I ask, did you make me touch," he pointed to the monster squirming on the ground, "THAT?!"

"Well you certainly were not doing anything useful just standing there." Vexen regained his composure, and then stomped on the freakish thing.

The beast screeched as brittle rib bones cracked and were crushed under foot. It was still squirming in a most sickening manner; however it was considerably less intimidating when it wasn't standing.

Demyx kneeled next to the beast. "It...it's dead, right?" He sniggered quietly, looking at the monster's disfigured face.  
"Its dea-ad, it's dea-ad, it's -"  
As jumped up, he felt the blood pooling around his feet. He jumped back quickly, knocking into Vexen. He turned slowly and sheepishly to face him.

"If it isn't, it's too injured to do anything." Vexen looked down at Demyx "However we may want to get a move on in case there are more… You wouldn't happen to have a flash light or something similar?"

"Actually..." Demyx reached into his coat pocket, feeling around, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth. He pulled his hand out, clutching something. "Nope! But I did find a chocolate bar!"

Vexen raised a hand to rub his temple; this mission was going to be by far more trying than he thought.

"In that case we shall have to just cope." Vexen took the treat from Demyx's hands utilizing his superior height to keep it well out of the Melodious Nocturne's reach.

Demyx jumped at the snack, but couldn't reach it. "No fair!"  
He frowned, and, at the same time, placed his hands up underneath his chin, putting on the watery puppy-dog eyes. "Can I have a snaaaaack?"

"No." Vexen said blankly before unwrapping the chocolate and taking a bite.

Demyx frowned even more before straightening up, crossing his arms and pouting. "Fine. Let's just get going with the mission!" With a 'humph', he turned on his heels and began wandering through the lobby as fast as he could without, turning and checking that he wasn't too far away from Vexen.

Vexen imagined if he'd had a heart he probably would have laughed at the younger mans reaction.  
Although without a heart he couldn't care anyway, he was somewhat less inclined in the case of IX, maybe if he was lucky Demyx would get himself lost, Vexen could weasel his way out of taking the blame, and there would be one less infuriating neophyte around.  
Feeling along the wall, wincing inwardly the slimy texture he found a switch that would hopefully be connected to the lights.

A single, filthy, sad little light bulb flickered to life. Although it did not provide much illumination it was enough.

The flash before had shown the walls were smeared with gore but this more steady source of light showed there was more to it than that.

One wall feature a huge circular symbol, above it scrawled in the same red-brown substance: There was a hole here but it's gone now.

The wall opposite made even less sense, seemingly random things, some were too small to make out in the minimum light. Only three were legible, in the middle written in black paint: Go ask Alice. When she's ten feet tall.

The second scratched in the cracked plaster: The white knight is talking backwards and the red queen's off with her head.

The final was seemingly written in blood: Down the rabbit hole and down again, four and twenty dead birds bleed upon the nest.

"Is... That's all written in..." Demyx looked pale, his face turning whiter by the second. "Clean!" he shouted suddenly. "It needs to be clean!"  
He pulled out a rag from his pockets and rushed at the wall, frantically scrubbing. Although he wasn't making an inch of progress, he continued his fruitless task, all the while muttering "Clean, must be clean..."

Vexen was sorely tempted to abandon him but Demyx made an excellent meat shield so instead gripped Demyx's shoulder "Stop. That's going to take the rest of you existence, so how about we get on with the mission?"

Demyx turned away from his work and stood up slowly. In an instant, he had latched himself onto Vexen's arm and rested his head on his fore arm. "Ok, I'm ready to go now..."

Vexen felt his skin crawl at the unnecessary physical contact, but tried not to squirm. It seemed to comfort Demyx, so he would try to put up with it.  
The lobby was otherwise empty; the only way to go was forward. Up the stairwell, concrete steps looked suspiciously like something had been dragged up it.  
With the water elemental on one arm and his shield on the other he started up the steps.

"Vexy..." Demyx swivelled around to face him directly. "What exactly are we looking for? You never told me, and how can I know what to look for if I don't know?"

"Apparently it's some artefact that caught XI's interest. I'm unsure of what it is but..." Vexen produced a scrap of parchment from his pocket and a small pen light.  
Focusing the light on the piece, Vexen bent down so Demyx could see. The parchment was obviously part of something much larger but showed a part of some form of machine branded with a symbol very much like the one in the previous room.

"Well, whatever it is, I guess we have to find it." He stared off into the distance at nothing in particular. "Either that or we face the... 'Consequences'..." Demyx shuddered, shook his head, and grabbed onto Vexen just a little bit tighter.

Replacing the items in his pocket, he stopped at the door that should lead to the first floor corridor. Shoving a hand against the door, Vexen was met by a considerable amount of resistance. Shoving harder the door gave slightly, another forceful shove and the door opened.

Vexen took a few seconds to react, the first floor... It just wasn't there. Floor boards jutted out a foot or so from the door way then there was nothing but space, an empty pit with no visible end. The walls of the corridor still existed, shear cliffs rising out of the darkness.

Demyx peered over the edge, staring down into the black abyss. "Uhh... maybe this isn't the right doorway..." He turned around and jumped slightly. "Umm... Vexy? We may have a slight problem..."

Vexen turned around, coming up the stairs and coming down the stair was a strange manner of beast. Both had a human body, but they creaked and twitched like something else. They wore robe like aprons that looked like they may have once been white; but were so stained with substances he didn't wish to identify; obscured by massive metal, pyramid shaped helmets.  
Dragged by surgical gloved hands were huge knives somewhat reminiscent of the buster swords in Radiant Garden. There was no where to run, no where to go, no way but down.  
The two things had somehow closed in on them with out them hearing, and behind them a (seemingly) bottomless pit.  
Vexen raised his shield, expect the sword to be swung,  
instead a heavy booted kick sent him and Demyx off the edge.

Demyx woke up to a stiff kick into his ribs. He curled up into the foetal position and sighed. "Ahh, must be back at the castle..."

Vexen snored, rolled over still asleep; for some odd reason pulled Demyx to his chest.

He felt the grab behind him and sighed again. Suddenly his eyes sprang open. He could see he wasn't at the castle, and so knew that there was only Vexen with him. "Then who kicked me..." he muttered to himself.

Vexen nuzzled Demyx hair before slowly waking up.  
A few blinks, he was awake and aware of his position. He was too close and there was too much physical contact, he felt like he needed to bathe in scalding hot water and scrub away his skin.  
Vexen shoved Demyx away and sat up.

Demyx rolled into a chair, knocking it over. He stood up, hitting his head on a table nearby. "Oww..." He rubbed the spot he hit, searching the room. He saw a number of tables with matching chairs, but it was too dark to make any kind of detail out.

Despite his disgust Vexen used the lack of light as an advantage, such a loss of composure was unbecoming.

Standing up, Vexen was made painfully aware of the state of his back and an atrocious headache.

By this point in time Vexen's eyes were considerably used to the dark, and he was thankful for it. Had there been light he probably wouldn't be able to cope.

Demyx staggered around, heading for where he thought the walls should be. As he lent against something, he felt a switch. "Ooh, I think I found the light switch!" He flicked it and the area was flooded with synthetic light.

Vexen hissed in pain, throwing a hand up to cover his eyes. "IX, would you kindly check to see if there is anything useful and then kill the lights." Vexen was obviously trying hard not to snarl at the younger man.

Looking around the room, it appeared to be a cafe. "Looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years..." Demyx remarked quietly.  
He called out to Vexen. " It looks like some sort of cafeteria"  
Suddenly, Demyx yelped and the lights flicked off again.

Hearing Demyx yelp Vexen removed his hand from his eyes. Met with darkness, Vexen was pleased his night vision hadn't been completely destroyed by the florescent lights. He could see the shapes of the furniture and Demyx but he couldn't make out much else. He knew better than to approach Demyx until his eyes readjusted.

"Just stay still til your eyes adjust"

A quick survey of the vicinity and Vexen spotted light coming from something behind the counter. Hoping over the bench, Vexen landed with a curious crunching noise.

Under the counter was a flashlight, seizing it Vexen used it to check the room.

The walls and ceiling were crawling with insects.

"What the hell are THEY?!" Demyx cowered to the ground, staring wild eyed at the swarms coming down the walls towards him (or so he presumed).  
There were some bugs on the ground in front of him, and he lashed out at them with his feet, stamping as hard as he could on the little things.

Vexen looked at his feet. A few of the disgusting things had been crushed already, insect guts smeared his boots; the disgusting things were crawling up his legs and the hem of his jacket, in his panic the air temperature surrounding him dropped about hundred degrees in an instant, deep freezing the bugs in his immediate vicinity.

Demyx took a step back. His water attacks were fruitless, the insects filling any gap he managed to clear, leaving him with an ever growing pile of twitching little corpses.

Despite the instant deep freeze more of the beetles had crawled over their frozen companions and began another attack; Vexen made a move to stomp on some but came across a horrible hindsight, he'd frozen himself to the floor.

"Vexy?! Help!!" Demyx frantically brushed at the insects climbing up his legs, but couldn't get rid of them. "I want out of here!!" he shouted at the top of his voice before frantically running around the room, waving his arms around and screaming.

"Can't. Th..." "Fuck!" Vexen swatted at another beetle "These things bite. Find the door, get outside, I'll catch up with you."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Are... are you sure?" Not waiting for a reply, he turned to the wall, searching for a door handle underneath the beetles. "Ah!" He hit the wall with a blast of water, revealing a door half covered by the insects. Reluctantly, he grabbed the handle and dived through the door, slamming it behind him.  
Breathing a sigh of relief, he slumped against the door, sliding down to the ground. "Vexy..."

Seeing the water elemental was out of the area Vexen dropped the temperature in the rest of the diner well below freezing point. Panting slightly from the exertion he dropped to the floor to attempt to fix the issue with his boots.

A few heavy blows with rusty, disused cutlery cracked the ice sufficiently to break free of the floor.

It wasn't a satisfactory result but it would do. The ice holding the insects wouldn't last and the temperature outside reduced the time he had considerably.

He settled for clomping out of the diner with the frozen masses still on his boots.

Given a few seconds he located the door Demyx had used to vacate the area.

The initial shove failed to budge the door. Concluding the frost must have stiffened the hinges Vexen summoned his shield and smashed the door.

The blow from the other side of the door sent Demyx skidding across the floor. He picked himself up and turned to the door, not knowing what to expect. From the icy mist, he saw a figure emerge. "V...Vexy?"  
He pounced towards the figure, tears streaming from his eyes. "VEXY!! YOU'RE ALIVE!!"

Vexen's mind squirmed horribly at the thought of being touched by the water elemental. He had already received more physical contact from the younger man in this day than he wanted for at least three lifetimes.

With the thought of being touched again Vexen side stepped and hit Demyx with the shield.

Sent flying again, Demyx tried to regain his balance before slamming into what felt like a filing cabinet. At least, the imprints of the handles felt like a filing cabinet.

"Ow ow ow ow..." He was curled up in a ball on the ground, clutching his stomach. "At least... ow... there are no more bugs in here..." He tried to get up, but couldn't make himself move.  
"What are we going to do, Vexy," he muttered quietly into the cold floor, "what are we going to do... We don't even know where we are anymore..." He winced in pain and moaned as he rolled over onto his back.

"..." Vexen thought for a bit "Here's a little incentive, if we go back now Marluxia shall do horrible painful things to us then hand us to the superior who shall do some more painful, horrible things to us before sending us on another mission which, I assure you will be even more unpleasant."

Demyx jumped up. "W-w-we'll be off then! Let's find a way out of here and to Marluxia's machine..." He began pacing fast around the room, examining his surroundings. "Find the machine, then no coat hangers, find the machine, then no coat hangers..."

Vexen raised an eyebrow pondering briefly what exactly was done to Demyx then decided he was better off not knowing being fully aware of what his old colleague and XI were capable of.

A brief surveillance of the area suggested an office of some form, most likely that of a small school, probably a college given the café in the vicinity.

Demyx made his way back to the filing cabinet, tugging on the drawers. "Hmm... all locked. Ah well." He wandered off to check out the desk over the other side of the small room.


End file.
